Constitution of municipal councils

(1) The municipal council shall consist of,— (a) such number of directly elected councillors specified in column (3) of the table below in respect of the municipal areas specified in the corresponding entries in column (2) thereof, namely:— TABLE Serial No. Population of the municipal area Number of Councillors (1) (2) (3) (1) for a municipal area with a population of not less than 20,000 but less than 40,000. 23 (2) for a municipal area with a population of not less than 40,000 but less than 50,000. 27 (3) for a municipal area with a population of not less than 50,000 but less than one lakh. 31 (4) for a municipal area with a population of not less than one lakh but less than three lakhs. 35 (b) not more than five persons nominated by the Government from amongst the residents of the municipal area and who are,— (i) persons having special knowledge and experience in municipal administration or matters relating to health, town planning or education, or (ii) social workers. (c) the members of the House of the People and the members of the State Legislative Assembly, representing a part or whole of the municipal area whose constituencies lie within the municipal area; (d) the members of the Council of States and members of the State Legislative Council registered as electors within the municipal area: Provided that the persons referred to in clause (b) shall not have the right to vote in the meetings of the municipal council. (2) Seats shall be reserved in a municipal council,— (a) for the Scheduled Castes; and (b) for the Scheduled Tribes; and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in the municipal council as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the municipal area or of the Scheduled Tribes in the municipal area bears to the total population of the municipal area. Provided that atleast one seat each shall be reserved in a municipal council for the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes: Provided further that, if no person belonging to the Scheduled Castes is available the seat reserved for the category shall also be filled by the persons belonging to the Scheduled tribes and vice versa. (3) Such number of seats which shall, as nearly as may be, one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in a municipal council, shall be reserved for the persons belonging to the Backward Classes. Provided that out of the seats reserved under this sub-section eighty per cent of the total number of such seats shall be reserved for the persons falling under category “A” and the remaining twenty per cent of the seats shall be reserved for the persons falling under category “B”: Provided further that if no person falling under category “A” is available, the seats reserved for that category shall also be filled by the persons falling under the category “B” and vice versa. Provided also that the number of seats so reserved for the backward classes under this sub-section shall be so determined that the total number of seats reserved for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes under sub-section (2) and the backward classes under this sub-section shall not exceed fifty per cent of the total number of seats in the Municipal Council. Explanation.—For the purpose of this sub-section sub-section (2A) of section 42 and sub-section (5) of section 352 categories “A” and “B” shall mean categories “A” and “B” referred to in clause (1A) of section 2. (4) Not more than fifty percent of the seats reserved for each category of persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes and those of the non-reserved seats to be filled by direct election in a municipal council shall be reserved for women: Provided that the seats reserved in sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) shall be allotted by rotation to different wards in a municipal area. (5) The councillors referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall be elected in the manner provided in this Act. (6) Nothing contained in sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) shall be deemed to prevent the members of the Scheduled Castes, Schedule Tribes, Backward Classes or Women from standing for election to the non-reserved seats.